Junk Food Nation!  Happy Monday. So I found out this past weekend that this past Saturday was the FIRST Saturday with NO Saturday Morning Cartoons. You heard me right. NONE.  What the eff?  The reason is better explained here, but basically it was networks shifting priorities to meet FCC laws and to adjust to the supply coming from Hulu, Youtube, etc.

STILL, I was pretty devastated when I heard this. OK, devastated is a bit extreme; I muttered, “awh,” when I heard and went right back into watching playoff baseball.  Truth is, I haven’t watched Saturday morning cartoons in…decades? But I used to LOVE them – waking up waaaaay before my parents would on a Saturday and hunkering down to watch four straight hours of cartoon-y goodness armed with a box of sugary cereal. It was heaven.  Plus, I have to imagine parents liked it – they could sleep in while their kids zombie-ed out. *PS: I’m apparently going to be an awful parent.

Looking back, I loved a LOT of cartoons – I was personally a G.I. Joe, The Transformers,ThunderCats, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Ducktales, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Tiny Toon Adventures, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, and then later became a Fox Kids junkies, absorbing episode after episode of Batman: The Animated Series; X-Men: The Animated Series; Eek! The Cat; Bobby’s World; and Animaniacs. God, I watched a ton of crap.

But here are, by far, some of the most memorable cartoons I watched.  They weren’t necessarily the best or the most popular, but I loved them.

1. Ghostbusters – just a really drawn cartoon with lots of detail and, what I remember to be, in-depth story lines with plenty of yuk-yuks along the way.  The gold standard.

2. Captain N – I always wanted Captain N to be MORE than what it was, since I was obsessed with video games as a kid. This show fell flat, and was more fun to make fun of – I’ll never forget my friend Mike wanting to strangle Kid Icarus because of the way he spoke.

3. The Mario Brothers – This was an actually decent cartoon, I think, sandwiched in between live-action bits with actors who looked NOTHING LIKE the cartoon Mario and Luigi.  Or, maybe they did.  God, the Mario Brothers were ugly.

4. Pro Stars – An awful cartoon – Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Bo Jackson as crime fighters?? WHO THOUGHT THIS WOULD WORK?  Plus, horribly contrived ways to work sports into the plot – “Wayne, all these puck-shaped bombs are about to go off, and the only way to save us is to get them out the goal-sized window!  HELP!”  WTF.  Still, the intro was burned into my brain.

What were some of YOUR favorite Saturday morning cartoons, Junk Food Nation? Tell me in the comments below.

Today’s junk food: Kettle Brand Sriracha Potato Chips!

Well, well, wel,, another Sriracha snack.  I’ve reviewed a few on my blog…and along comes Kettle Brand Sriracha Potato Chips. The Lay’s and the Pringles versions are the only Sriracha chips I’ve really liked…getting that spicy garlicky sweet pepper flavor to stand up on top of a potato chip is hard.  Don’t let me down, Kettle.

I do like the design elements of these Kettle Brand Sriracha Potato Chips….nice simple use of the red bag, bottle on fire, etc.

It’s funny – despite loving Sriracha, and eating now my 3rd or 4th potato chip with Sriracha on it, I’ve actually never had Sriracha on, say, french fries before.  Hm.

I opened this bag of Kettle Brand Sriracha Potato Chips and sniffed….I didn’t quite get a Sriracha smell. I definitely picked up hints of pepper and some garlic…but it was muted.  These smelled a lot more like the Kettle Red Chili chips I’d eaten before.  Still, I know smells can be deceiving…

I munched a bunch of these Kettle Brand Sriracha Potato Chips, and I have to say….these did not live up to my hopes.  Sorry, Kettle.

Let me say this: this was definitely a tasty chip.  The Kettle Brand potato chip is always good – it’s light, crunchy, and not overly greasy.  The chips have a wonderful texture.

The flavor of these chips is good – there’s definitely a burn to the chips, and lots of pepper flavor.  There’s a slight garlic flavor, and a good overall smokiness to the chip itself.  The chip was also nice and savory from the garlic powder.  The red pepper powder definitely gave it a slight sweetness.

But did it taste like Sriracha to me?  No – Sriracha is BOLD, and these didn’t go far enough.  Sriracha’s first taste is, in reality, sweet – the pepper flavor hits you and the vinegar takes over making your eyes water. That flavor finished with a huge garlicky taste and a lasting burn that makes you suck air.  These chips lacked that – not enough vinegar and not enough garlic.

So that’s that.  A tasty chip, but as they were, these felt more like a slightly spicy BBQ than Sriracha.  I’d probably opt for another brand if I was seeking that Sriracha flavor.

I still love you Kettle – I’ll buy your Maple Bacon Popcorn by the truckload…but not these.

PURCHASED AT: Safeway, Waterfront Metro, DC.

COST: $3.00

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy